This is basically a blog about training and performance. ...well that and a place for me to crap on and moan in equal measure.

When and Where?

Group Training from 7.00am till 12.00pm and again from 5.00pm till 9.00pm Monday to Friday & Saturday 10.30am till 12.30pm...I'll take it that if you found this site then you'll stand a pretty good chance of finding the gym...if you can't...then look harder.

Individual sessions and consultations are available throughout the day outside of group training times...but if you didn't know that...there's a good chance I won't see you any way...I've standards to keep....eventually I hope to be so exclusive that I won't see anyone.

...before you ask....yes, I am expensive....really expensive.

Items of Interest

Stuff I like...that I also get a juicy cut of if you buy it

Lyle McDonald's Books- Everything I've stolen in the area of nutrition. If I've told you how to lose weight... it was from here... if you've got advice on bulking up... also here... if you are seriously interested in nutrtion and sports performance... don't talk to me unless you own them.

Dan John's 3 DVD set- (Something I won't get a cut of... but Dan, when I'm in Utah... you buy the beer... even if I have to wait an hour for my next one) The set includes Everything's over my head, From the ground up and Carried Away. If you are interested in lifting you should buy it. Just about everything I know and teach with regards to Oly Lifting was stolen from these... I bought them and still watch them.

Iron Woody Bands- These are the bands we use. I don't think they are better or worse than other bands but I can tell you I still have the original bands I bought years and years ago so they've stood the test of time.

In this day and age where we see trainers/coaches promising more fat loss in less time, your 4 x 1hour+ sessions are quite a commitment.If you think they are going to get away with an hours training you are having a laugh. I'd say it'll be closer to 90 minutes.

ian said...I knew it was going to be 60mins plus - and fair play to the girls for committing to 90mins.They want to be hotties...and that don't come easy.

I have never believed in the rigid 1 hour exactly sessions generally used by trainers and gyms - I just think you do what you need to do however long it takes - even if that means a 30 minutes session 1 day and a 75 minute session another.I think Johnny and Daz have the record...I think they did a 4 and half hour session the other day...that was 5 exercises from memory.

ian said...I was referring mainly to personal training clients with full time jobs and kids where the norm seems to be to allocate blocks of 60minute sessions - you know the drill - warmup, cardio, machine weight training, stretch and they're done - I detest this approach and have never understood this dogmaic approach.I think it is stupid as well...with a lot of my personal training clients I don't have them warm up at all...I mean seriously why the hell would I waste 10-15 minutes warming up if they are going to be doing bodyweight lunges, push ups and bridging for example. I see trainers warm up their clients all the time then doing bicep curls with them with 5kg dumbbells...give me a break.

How much time do you give to screening your personal training clients and since fat loss is the goal what static/dynamic tests do you think are worth doing?As much time as I think I need...depends why they are standing in front of me. Every session that every athlete or client does with me they are being assessed. Sometimes I get people training for a while so I can work out 'what' exactly I need to assess.

ian said....I was referring mainly to fat loss clients - other then assessing how fat they are (I like the sight test - I can look at someone and in an instant can assess them as being fat - no calipers, no scales - works a treat) - I was wondering how much attention you would initially pay to their mobility, strength and so on - which isn't what they came to see you about to start with - but then your last comment about training people for a while made me realise you can assess a lot of stuff once you get them on the program.Exactly...if I see something wrong or that doesn't look right then I'll assess it so I can do something about it and then assess it on an ongoing basis to see if I'm making inroads. I mean I also see some trainers doing full one hour functional movement screening and assessments...they do it because they can...rather than because it's needed...total waste of time most of the time for the majority of clients...I could give their clients the same feedback without ever seeing them...your hamstrings are too tight, your hip mobility is poor, your trunk strength isn't what it should be and your shoulders are a total mess...next!

I imagine it is possible to over do the assessments when really the only thing the client is interested in is if their dress fits better :)Precisely.

I know there are an infinite number of ways to structure your sessions - and I'm sure you do - but you seem to like the strength stuff interspersed with cardio.This is just one of a number of formats and it is probably the format that I use the least actually.

Do you like the format because the clients can keep the intensity up on the cardio due to the rest they get while doing strength - or is it a nice structure because the mixing up of strength and cardio keeps boredom away? I'm trying not to look too deep into this - but I know that's how it comes across :)Don't ever worry about how your questions come across...like I've said before the more specific the question the more specific my answer will be...and if you aren't 100% sure what I'm getting at with my answer...ask more questions...like I also said...one of the reasons I'm doing this is because I am not the best at explaining myself and I know that so asking questions helps me as much as it may help you. I think this works well with fat loss and conditioning for sport. You'll see most of my cardio is distance based rather than time....if athletes want to go harder and get it finished quicker I'm all the happier. The blocks of strength work are time based because I want the athletes get better at managing their work capacity. I think they find it easier to get their heads around the fact that whatever I'm having them do is only going to last 15 minutes. I let peoples competitive nature take care of the rest.

For nutrition do you just tell the girls to clean up their act for the first month and see how they go?Yep.

Do you just use the Tanita scales to measure body fat or do you get the calipers out?Photos I think work better. Scale weight can be deceptive. Calipers are crap for fat people. Electrical impedance devices are extremely unreliable. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Joel Hallström said...What's your view on rotation exercises at the lumbar spine like the windscreen whiper? Ive seen a few coaches taking them of the program after reading Shirley Sarhmann's Treatment of movement Impairment Syndromes Movement in which she states that :"Rotation of the lumbar spine is more dangerous than beneficial and rotation of the pelvis and lower extremities to one side while the trunk remain stable or is rotated to the other side is particularly dangerous"I've read the work...just happen to think a lot of it irrelevant. Let me put it this way...what do you think is more dangerous or potentially harmful...windscreen wipers or getting punched repeatedly in the face? What about woodchoppers or say packing a scrum?

Which do you think might be potentially more dangerous?

You really need to rely on common sense and experience when you read stuff like this...I also know a lot of trainers that have stopped doing sit ups because apparently lumbar flexion is also more dangerous than beneficial...I mean for heavens sake...give me a break. Where do you honestly think sit ups done properly rank with regard to the causes of back injury?

My point being that there are a lot of exercises and activities that can potentially cause injury...should we go out of our way to do exercises that are reckless or dangerous....no....but should we avoid all potentially harmful activity? I don't think so...what would we have left to do?

Anonymous said...Exactly what kind of fitness center are you running, sir??Not sure you could really call it a fitness centre.

Artie said...It's probably been discussed, but I'm lazy: if you want to increase for example a 100 kg 1 RM front squat 5-10 kg, what would be your specific scheme to increase the load (from WO to WO)? Or do you just follow the Westside style and "try" to go for a 1-3 rep max each time? Thanks!Cmon Artie...you can do better than that...this is a crap question. Have a think about it and try again.

I mean how does who increase their 1RM front squat from 100kgs? What have they been doing previously? What is their technique like? Are they really quad dominant? Do they have a really weak back? What's their trunk strength like?Do you think both these guys need to do the same thing to improve their 1RM bench for instance?

lylemcd said...How can you supervise non-existent/fake athletes?I know I know...especially when I have all my non-existent/fake marketing plans to put into motion and my non-existent/fake books to promote.

6 comments:

ian
said...

If you think they are going to get away with an hours training you are having a laugh. I'd say it'll be closer to 90 minutes.

I knew it was going to be 60mins plus - and fair play to the girls for committing to 90mins.

I think Johnny and Daz have the record...I think they did a 4 and half hour session the other day...that was 5 exercises from memory.

I was referring mainly to personal training clients with full time jobs and kids where the norm seems to be to allocate blocks of 60minute sessions - you know the drill - warmup, cardio, machine weight training, stretch and they're done - I detest this approach and have never understood this dogmaic approach.

As much time as I think I need...depends why they are standing in front of me. Every session that every athlete or client does with me they are being assessed. Sometimes I get people training for a while so I can work out 'what' exactly I need to assess.

I was referring mainly to fat loss clients - other then assessing how fat they are (I like the sight test - I can look at someone and in an instant can assess them as being fat - no calipers, no scales - works a treat) - I was wondering how much attention you would initially pay to their mobility, strength and so on - which isn't what they came to see you about to start with - but then your last comment about training people for a while made me realise you can assess a lot of stuff once you get them on the program.

Im fully with you of that if we would take out all the potentially dangerous exercises there wouldnt be much left to train. I was thinking of the use of either floorwhipers or crunches in a sports related situation. Where do you see them? Isn't there zillion of other stuff you can do that has a better risk vs benefit ratio and thats more beneficial for the athletes then crunches or floorwhipers?

...what I found interesting was how many trainers/coaches who were advocating floorwipers, crunches, prone scorpions etc for a long time - without a hint of prior history of issues with these exercises otherwise they wouldn't be promoting them - next thing you know they've been up all night reading Shirley Sarhmann's book and all of sudden those same exercises have become a no go.

Joel Hallström said...Im fully with you of that if we would take out all the potentially dangerous exercises there wouldnt be much left to train.True.I was thinking of the use of either floorwipers or crunches in a sports related situation. Where do you see them?You don't see many people with a bar and weights on their backs running around the pitch either? But I sort of know what you're saying...I'll give you some leeway but only because you're one of my 5 readers.Isn't there zillion of other stuff you can do that has a better risk vs benefit ratio and thats more beneficial for the athletes then crunches or floorwhipers?Yes...and I do all of that as well.

...what I found interesting was how many trainers/coaches who were advocating floorwipers, crunches, prone scorpions etc for a long time - without a hint of prior history of issues with these exercises otherwise they wouldn't be promoting them - next thing you know they've been up all night reading Shirley Sarhmann's book and all of sudden those same exercises have become a no go.

Did things really become that bad overnight?No...they didn't get bad over night...and yes, it is all pretty stupid.